The US Congressional Committee investigating the storming of the Capitol wants former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. The 62-year-old Republican was the fourth and final chief of staff to former President Trump, including during the Capitol storming on January 6. He has been called to testify on several occasions, but has so far refused to do so.
At the end of November, Meadows announced that he still wanted to cooperate in the parliamentary investigation into the storming. He is said to have handed over thousands of documents for this purpose, but according to the commission of inquiry he also withheld a lot of information.
Meadows also refuses to answer questions from the committee. For example, the committee members wanted to know more about the email he allegedly wrote the day before the attack on the Capitol. It stated that the National Guard would be standing by to protect Trump supporters.
Memoires
According to Meadows’ lawyer, he has no plans to testify again, partly because of the executive privilege which he would fall under as a close associate of the President. It’s about a president’s right to keep confidential information secret.
The chairman of the parliamentary inquiry committee accuses Meadows of not wanting to appear before the committee, but is currently promoting his own book. In that book, in which Meadows wrote down his memoirs, the events of January 6 also return. According to the committee, it contains relevant information that requires explanation.
All nine members of the parliamentary inquiry committee, seven Democrats and two Republicans, voted to prosecute Meadows. The House of Representatives is also yet to vote on the issue, possibly today. Democrats have a majority in the House. If a majority agrees to prosecute, it will be up to the Justice Department to initiate criminal proceedings against Meadows.
Steve Bannon
Two months ago, the House of Representatives voted to prosecute Steve Bannon, the closest adviser and confidant to former President Trump. Bannon also had to testify before the Commission of Inquiry about the Capitol storming, but refused.
The Justice Department announced last month that Bannon is indeed being charged with contempt of Congress. It carries a prison sentence of a minimum of one month to a maximum of one year.
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